News

Monday, April 28, 2014

ACEP in Sitka and Angoon, Alaska

ACEP researcher Chris Pike returned to Fairbanks this weekend from his trip to Sitka and Angoon last week.

While in Sitka Chris was able to tour the Blue Lake hydroelectric dam with the students from Mt. Edgecumbe High School. The dam is currently being raised by 83 feet which will allow its power output of 7 mW to increase to 15+ mW using the same amount of water. On April 21st Chris was also interviewed by the radio station KCAW (based out of Sitka) about his trip to the area.

As part of Chris’ KidWind role on the trip, he judged four different teams from a physics class at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Chris tested each team’s turbine designs and recorded their power output.

During his visit to Angoon, Chris tested seven different wind turbines that were created by students at Angoon Elementary with the mentoring of several Angoon High School students. In addition to the turbine testing, the students made presentations to Chris about wind energy and what they had learned during the activity. Chris also met with community leaders in Angoon to discuss the energy needs for the area and what challenges they are facing.

Photo: Angoon elementary school children worked with high school age students to design and build wind turbines for the KidWind Challenge. Courtesy of C. Pike, ACEP/UAF.